dairy news

Have you heard of “Hoard’s Dairyman” magazine? Probably not unless you are in a dairy related industry. “Hoard’s Dairyman” is a national dairy farm magazine with an international circulation. It is one of the dairy industry’s top publications. Recently, we were honored to appear in the October issue.

For me, this magazine holds a lot of very special memories. Someday, I will find the photo of Dad in his lazy boy chair smoking his cigar reading Hoard’s Dairyman, but until then it is etched in my heart. He was a regular reader of Hoard’s since he was always looking for ways to improve and better the farm. One of the first ways, was to increase the cow herd. Not only did he want the herd to grow, he was seeking cows with the best genetics. Where did Dad find the cows? In the classified ads of the Hoard’s Dairyman with the traits he desired. Dad and a neighbor dairy farmer made many trips to Wisconsin to buy and haul the cows home. I was about 11 or 12 when Dad started buying cows from Wisconsin. This was not an easy task in the early 1970’s. They hauled eight or nine cows in the back of a two-ton flatbed truck over 700 miles. As a child, I still remember the cows walking down the unloading chute. They were beautiful! Each cow was huge and her tail combed. Even their neck and ear tags were different. I still remember my first trip to Wisconsin, WOW! This would be comparable to a horse owner visiting a thoroughbred farm in Lexington, Kentucky.

Our dairy farm changed in the 1970’s thanks to Hoard’s. Today’s article is about how Ellie, Dustin, Dan and I are trying to save and improve Dad’s dream.